“What does it say?” Molly asked, her brows knitted together as she tucked her feet up under her.
The second that I’d made it to her place and told her about my stop at the house, she’d rung Danny, and we were now midway through a Zoom call.
“Yeah, reread it for us, will you, Lizzie?” Danny peered closer to the camera, his head looking larger than ever on Molly’s laptop screen.
Unfolding the note, I turned it toward the computer camera. “It just says, Stay away from the auction. Or else.”
“Or else what?” Andrew asked, leaning over Danny’s shoulder.
I shrugged.
“Who do you think left the note?” Molly asked.
I shrugged again.
“You should go to the police,” said Andrew, concern etched into the deep lines on his forehead.
“And tell them what?”
“That the new agent is a weirdo!” added Danny.
“Yeah. What happened to Bob that he couldn’t wait five more minutes?” Andrew asked.
“I hope it was nothing nasty.” I chewed my thumbnail, worried about a man I hardly knew.
“What about the woman with the gorgeous shoes?” Molly asked. “Where did she go? Could she have been the one trying to get you to stay away?”
I shook my head. “It was definitely a man who left the note.”
“She could have had a boyfriend,” Molly added.
“I guess so.”
“The neighbor looks suspicious,” stated Danny.
“What makes you say that?”
“Have you seen her regrowth?”
“She was sneaking around looking in the windows when I got there,” I recalled.
“I think it’s the new agent,” said Molly.
“Why would he want to scare away a prospective buyer? He’d only lose if the house didn’t sell. I estimated his commission to be around twenty thousand dollars.”
“Yes, but what if he was in cahoots with Lady Louboutin? He could get them the house at a great price and still get a good commission.”
“I don’t think it was he who left the note,” I explained. “I know it was dark, and I was watching from a distance, but I think that guy was taller, and they were dressed differently. Elijah was wearing a Westport Property Sales jacket. I guess he could have thrown the coat on over it, but he would’ve needed super-human speed to beat me to the front door.”
“What did you say that agent’s name was?” Molly asked, her tablet in hand. “I’m going to look up the real estate company’s website and see if he’s legit.”
“He just said his name was Elijah.”
It only took a second before she frowned. “Westport Property Sales has no one by that name listed as an agent on their website.”
“He could be new. They did have to replace Zac after all.”
I was beginning to think Mum was right and the house had bad karma. I mean, how many agents did it take to sell one old house?
“I’m sure I was just being silly,” I added. “The house felt really weird in the silent night air. My imagination was running wild.”
“You do have an overactive imagination,” added Danny. “But you didn’t imagine that note.”
“I know. But I think that was just another buyer wanting to scare away the competition,” I mumbled, distracted by the dinging of my phone’s notifications. Those little icons were like an itch to me. They really bugged me until they were cleared so I allowed the conversation to drift into background while I checked it.
Hmmm, Facebook had a new friend request. Clicking on the screen, I squinted at the smiling face of Elijah.
“This is the guy!” I gasped, hurriedly turning my phone screen to face the camera.
“Why would he send you a friend request?” Molly recoiled slightly.
“That’s very strange,” added Andrew. “It’s not common practice for an agent to send you a personal request like that. It’s quite unprofessional.”
“Is he cute?” Danny asked, as he moved closer to the camera.
Andrew rolled his eyes.
“No. He’s kind of creepy.”
“Ignore him,” Molly demanded.
“But what if that affects my chances of getting the house?”
“How is it going to do that?” Her eyes narrowed as she assessed me.
“I don’t know. I’ve never purchased a house before.” I bit my lip as I considered the request.
Molly took my phone and peered at the screen. After a moment she said, “I know this guy. I went to school with him. His girlfriend is an investor. She has that show on television where you buy a house really cheap, renovate it in a week, then sell it super quickly and make lots of money.”
“See! I bet that’s the deal.” Danny sat back and clapped his hands gleefully.
I huffed, defeat sitting heavy on my shoulders. “So, my chances of winning the bid are even less now.”
“You won’t bid any higher than you can afford, will you?” Andrew asked.
“Nope. Between my savings and what the bank will lend me, I have a very strict budget.” And if I cut out my coffee habit, I could probably still afford to eat. Oh, who was I kidding? Life without coffee would just suck. “However, I’m willing to go to my max to get it.”
“Scott just messaged you,” added Molly, handing my phone back. “He wants to know where you left his dry cleaning?”
Bugger. I’d forgotten about that.
“Was it something he needed?” Andrew asked as I cringed.
“Just his favorite suit pants. I had a mishap and knocked his glass of red wine into his lap. He was pretty upset about it, so I said I’d get them dry cleaned.”
“You should have just wiped it up for him.” Danny grinned. “That would have made him happy.”
Heat flushed my face. “Yeah, I tried that, but apparently they’re Ralph Lauren, so nothing was distracting him.” I shrugged as Molly sucked in a pained breath.
“You did take them to the cleaners, right?”
My blush deepened.
“Lizzie! Those pants will be ruined.”
“I’ll just buy him a new pair then.” I had no idea what the big deal was.
“Do you know how much they cost?”
“They’re pants. How much can they be?”
Molly opened Google and showed me the price tag.
“Whoa…” The world swayed and black dots appeared in my vision. At this rate I was going to have to give up more than just coffee if I ever wanted to afford this house.
Bugger.